Live for the One, Die for the One
by Larania Drake
Summary: How did Trunks wind up on B5? Fighting the Shadows? You bet!
1. I

Live For the One, Die for the One

** **

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama and Bird Studios, and I wish it didn't belong to Funimation. Babylon 5 belongs to Warner Brothers and the Great Maker. I make no money from this.

Marcus Cole had a front row seat for one of the most infamous events on Babylon 5; the Mutai fights. 

It had often been called a meat grinder. There were few fighters that entered that were human, because of the sheer fury of the fighting. 

This year was different, though. There was a human who was taking the fights with an almost insulting ease. 

Marcus watched at this seemingly young man with lavender hair beat the strongest of the Narn, and even the Minbari that attempted to beat him. He could tell that more than a few fighters there were insulted by how well this human was doing, but the man himself was nothing less than respectful. He never insulted his opponents, or mocked the rites of the Mutai.

Then he left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The man was sitting in one of the many bars of Down Below, just staring at his drink, when Marcus found him.

"You know, you can't just absorb that through your hands," said the Ranger.

"Really? It seems to be working well enough for me," the man said, not turning to look at him.

"I saw how you fought earlier. You have great potential."

"No shit?" was the only response.

Marcus sighed, and rolled his eyes. Of course, this guy had to be a wise ass.

"I'm going to make you an offer-" Marcus started, but was cut off.

"I don't do mercenary work, I don't kill, and I sure as hell don't want to listen to anything you have to say. Now, Mr. –"

"My name is Marcus Cole, and I have no intention of asking you to do anything like that, at least not against your will."

The man turned to him, and Marcus sized him up, and added him to his 'Do not get on bad side of' list. The man held himself like a warrior, despite his long hair, which was in a ponytail, and dockworker's clothing. It was the strangest hair color that he had ever seen, a soft lavender, and you could almost pass it off for blond. His blues eyes had seen so much pain that they could pierce a lesser soul.

"What do you want?" the man asked, gesturing to the stool beside him. His face was hard.

"You're being wasted here," Marcus told him. "What if I told you about a place where you could fight for people, help them, and stop a great evil from destroying the galaxy?"

For some odd reason, this sparked the man's interest.

"Do I have to stay?" he asked.

Marcus shook his head.

"No, you can leave whenever you want."

"Well, Cole, I'll go with you to learn more about this- but if anything gets suspicious- you will go straight to Hell, and say hi to Enma-sama for me."

Marcus grinned at the young man. He put out his hand. "I told you my name, now, what is yours?"

The man looked at the outstretched hand dubiously, and then took it. 

"My name is Trunks Briefs."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marcus smiled as he looked over at his new recruit for the Rangers, as they arrived at Tuzanor.

"They say, that to dream in the City of Sorrows is to dream of a better future," Marcus told Trunks, who whipped his head around, and looked like he was about to cry.

"Don't mention the future to me, man. I know enough about that, already."

"Uh- Fine." Marcus had never been at a loss for words before. A first.

Trunks was taking in the Minbari sights and sounds, and he seemed to enjoy what he was seeing.

"Maybe I will give this Ranger thing a try," Trunks whispered, hoping for the best.

Tell me if you like it, and I will continue. I might continue anyway, my muses use whips.


	2. II

Live for the One, Die for the One

** **

Disclaimer: Not mine, no money.

A/N: This takes place after the Cell Saga in DBZ, and in the third season of B5.

"This is White Star 09, we copy!" Trunks shouted, as his ship went under fire from the Shadow vessels they had been spying on with two other White Stars.

_-Badly hit…loosing atmosphere- engines going critical…-_

__Trunks closed his eyes, as the captain of his sister ship made last decision-

_-This is White Star 21, we live for-_

__She was cut off in mid-sentence, as the self-destruct cut in, and Trunk's eyes flashed opened. He could mourn later. Now, he needed to get his ship out of there, with the information they had gathered.

"Alright, folks, lets pull a Sheridan!" he yelled in Minbari, and dashed to his ship's helm. No Minbari, as good as they were, could pilot this thing fast enough to get them out of here.

Well, he could.

His pilot protested as he was thrown out of his chair, and Trunks in that chair, his hands invisible as he calculated a course-

The maneuvers they executed would have been impossible for any other ship, and the only reason they could do those was because Trunks had a higher tolerance for g-forces. The rest of his crew were thrown, and battered senseless from some of the corkscrews he forced the ship through.

It almost worked-

As they were about to activate the jump engines, a slimy, rancid feeling something touched Trunks' mind, and he screamed at how defiled he felt.

It was fortunate that most of his crew was insensible; he went Super Saiya-jin.

The Shadow vessel screamed as Trunks fought back with his mind, the pain was so intense; he couldn't describe it. 

The Golden warrior pushed back, his defenses, such as they were, mauling at the Shadows. 

There had been eight to begin with, 21's suicide had taken out three, and two shriveled at the sheer power of the panicked Saiya-jins defenses. 

One or two of the crew woke up after they came to a dead stop, seeing their captain glowing gold, and started wondering if Valen had returned. 

The other Shadows, seeing the fate of their comrades, retreated. They couldn't face the force in that small ship.

Trunks gasped, and got the jump gate started, and autopilot took it from there with a course set for-

Where else? Babylon 5.

~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Marcus was one of the first to board the ship that had come in, with no one answering at the com. He and Stephen Franklin with an emergency medical team had rushed to the bridge, where they found Captain Briefs. He was passed out at the helm, blood running out his eyes and ears.

A few of the crew had come around, and had been taking damage estimates. 

"We don't know what happened," said a young human Ranger. "I was down in engineering, when we went into some radical maneuvers. Then we stopped dead…"

Marcus looked over at his friend. He had met him barely five months ago, and now he was a captain.

Trunks was being loaded onto a stretcher when he woke up. Several of his bridge crew were whispered about the rumors they had heard, that their captain had turned into an angel to save them… Marcus wondered if they were delusional.

"Hey, Briefs," Marcus said, his voice sardonic. "You had a party in here with alcohol? You know what that does to Minbari."

Trunks tried to laugh, but when he did, he saw sparks, and thought his brain had exploded.

"Naw, just some fireworks. Man, have I got a headache," Trunks groaned, and clutched his head. His purple hair was matted with sweat.

"You know what some of your crew are saying? That you turned into a golden angel? I think you must have had them on some seriously hard drugs."

"Yeah, when piloting extremely powerful craft, its always a good idea to have your crew doped. Man, you have got to do something with your sense of humor. That would kill the Shadows faster than anything…"

After seeing him to MedLab, Marcus took the flight recorder to Captain Sheridan. 

"Does this have the information we needed?" Sheridan asked, looking surprised.

"It should. This kid may have joined the Rangers recently, but he knows his stuff. I also think there may be something of a bonus, too…" Marcus added, as they started looking over the information that had been gathered.

It had to do with several of the Shadows' deployments, but also..

"Holy- I think he managed to figure out how to get the devices out of those captive telepaths brains…" Marcus said, after looking at the information at the beginning of the flight recorder's logs.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, wow, this is amazing…" Marcus said aloud. He continued to stare at the recorder as Sheridan left the room, to get to the war room to make plans using the new strategic information.

Marcus was curious as to what happened to cause the 'wild party' he had found. So, he continued to watch the flight recorder, accessing the actual images of what had happened.

"In Valen's name…" he said, awed by the beginning of it.

White Star 21 being hit, the others escaping, and Trunks being left-

Trunks- _How the bloody hell did he move that fast?-_

__Marcus watched as he took over the helm, shouted something about Sheridan – _and he thinks my humor is bad- _and-

_Dear god-_

__He watched at Trunks yelled in pain, in a way that he had seen only Lyta or any other telepath do when confronted with a Shadow. _So, that's what he's hiding? That he's a telepath?_

__Then he glowed. His hair, what wasn't in the ponytail, turned sun yellow, his eyes became a brilliant green, then he passed out.

The passive sensors on the ship had picked up a lot during this. The g-forces had been- he looked at the readout, and double-checked to make sure-

They had been over ten g's!

That wasn't quite all of it, though. They had been at that level for a good five minutes! That should have knocked any human out.

The other sensors also recorded an energy spike that was- unknown. Not unknown, just unrecordable, because it was so large, the charts didn't have big enough numbers.

"What the hell could have caused this?" he asked, and thought about some of the other strange things he had seen. Was it caused by one of the Ancient Ones? They were the only people that he knew of that could cause something like that. 

Marcus Cole did not like mysteries. So, he was going to go solve this one…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, Trunks, you mind explaining a few things to me?" Marcus asked, as an annoyed looking man with purple hair exited MedLab. 

"Like what?" Trunks asked, as Dr. Franklin ran out behind him.

"You can't just leave!" Stephan barked, grabbing Trunks' arm. 

"Yes, see, I'm fine, doc. Leave me alone. I need to get back."

"No, there are some anomalies in your DNA that are worrying me, and I need to check them out. "

"DOC! I said I was fine, see?" Trunks growled, actually growled, and Marcus and the Doctor backed up. He then strode off, his robe swirling around him.

"What is going on with that guy?" The Doc asked, confused, while Marcus just watched. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~

"Damn," Trunks whispered, going back to his quarters on the White Star 09, dubbed the Hope II. He had never told anyone why he called it that, but he did. The original Hope, he had still in his pocket.

Taking it out, he popped open the capsule, and looked that the damaged ship. 

No one could have been more shocked than he was when he had arrived in this Universe. It was after he had been arrived on this earth that he found something had gone wrong. Apparently, Cell had somehow damaged it. He still hadn't figured that one out.

So, he had had to get a job. Occasionally as a bouncer, fighter, anything he could do to bring in enough money for the parts he needed. 

He had never thought about going into space, until they had needed workers for Babylon 5, and he had gone enthusiastically. The place would bring peace, hopefully, and from a world reminiscent of hell, that was a wonderful thing.

He sighed, as he looked at the almost fixed time machine. There were several parts still missing, and the recharging should take a couple of more months, but he was almost done. Then, he could return home.

Grinning to himself at the thought, he popped out the miniature gravity room his mother had made him from the other time. If he was going to defeat the androids, he needed to keep up more than his Ranger training.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bester looked at Sheridan in shock.

"You found a way to remove the Shadow implants?"

"We found information on them, yes," the Captain conceded, not taking his eyes from the Psi Cop for an instant.

"May I speak with the person who brought that information in?" he asked, as calmly grating on the nerves as ever.

"Why, certainly, Mr. Bester."

Sheridan touched a toggle on his com link, and asked for Ranger Briefs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks had been finishing his vibe shower at the time, and wondered what was going on.

"Sir?" he asked, getting dressed in his uniform.

"I have someone here that would like to hear what happened on your last mission. Would you mind coming to my office?"

Trunks knew that tone. "Not at all, sir, I'm on my way."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As Trunks entered Captain Sheridan's office, he saw a small man, middle aged, but still tough looking, wearing a uniform that had been used as a boogey story.From what he had heard about the telepaths of this time, Trunks was glad that he was not going to be living here for long. 

Locking eyes with the man, he hissed as pain seemed to flair between his eyes, and he instinctively blocked it, like it was a chi attack.

Bester looked alarmed when his probe hit something like a hard, seamless, metal wall. He overcame his shock by taking in the young man in front of him, who was shaking his head like he had no idea what was going on.

This amused Bester, and he tried again.

This time Trunks guessed what was going on.

_THUMP!_

"What were you trying to do to my mind?" Trunks yelled, and Bester grinned.

"Well, Captain," Bester wheezed around the arm like an iron bar, that was successfully keeping him from moving, and almost breathing. "It seems we have a rogue telepath here."

Well, do I finish?

__


	3. III

**Live for the One, Die for the One III**

** **

Disclaimer: B5 belongs to Warner Bros. and the Great Maker. DBZ belongs to Akira Toriyama, and Funimation. (BOOO! HIIISSSS!)

"A rogue telepath?" Sheridan asked, and then his eyes narrowed. "Ho w could you do that without using an illegal scan?"

"Please, Captain," answered Bester, amused. "You are at war with the Shadows, and are enemies with the Earth Alliance. There is nothing to keep me from scanning a person here. I was curious about out-" 

He seemed to have forgotten that Trunks had an arm across his neck, pinning him to a wall. Trunks chose that moment to remind him of it, but pushing him hard against it, blocking more of his air.

"What were you trying to do to my head?" Trunks growled, unconsciously raising his power level. 

"Mr. Briefs, as much I would like to see it, don't kill him," Captain Sheridan said sternly, but with some humor lurking in his eyes.

Trunks could here himself snarling, baring his teeth as Saiya-jin instinct overcame human upbringing.

"Mr. Briefs? Mr. Briefs!" he could hear someone shouting, but his temper was getting out of control. 

This slimy little bastard had to pay. After all he had gone through, all the pain, this little wad of filth had no right to traipse about in his mind like –

Arms were grabbing him, trying to pull him away from the little onore, but it did them no good. He himself decided to throw Bester into another wall, gave a feral war cry, and started to beat him bloody.

"Sir, there is a huge energy spike coming from your office!" a voice said over the com, which Trunks didn't really hear.

"I need more security!" Sheridan shouted back. "Send me all the rangers on the station!"

Trunks was barely tapping him by his standards, but it had been a long time since he had fought a normal human, despite what mental powers this guy had. He could feel him trying to use them, too. It was like someone was trying to hit him with a hammer between his eyes. 

Still, a human with a hammer was nothing compared to the Room of Spirit and Time, or the Androids. Bester didn't have a chance.

Then someone was sticking a needle into is neck, and he whirled to see who it was.

Marcus was holding a hypo needle, shocked that his usually calm and collected friend had gone into such a rage.

For several moments, Trunks just looked at him, before succumbing to the injection.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"He just went crazy when Bester scanned him," Marcus babbled to Ivanova, as they walked to a briefing with Sheridan. 

"Well, I don't blame him. If Bester started a scan on me, I would have freaked out and gone ballistic too. In fact, I would go ballistic on Bester even if he hadn't scanned me. Maybe it wasn't a scan that set him off, but the little rat's smell."

"Susan! This is serious!" he protested, although a smile hovered on his lips. _Everyone_ on Babylon 5 disliked Bester.

"You're right, this is bad PR for the rangers.. Although, I don't know, maybe it will do them some good… Never mind. Who knows what Delenn with think of all this. I mean, hiding rogue telepaths in the rangers? What will Earth Dome do with that?"

"I never would have thought of Trunks as being the type," Marcus muttered, thinking about how his eyes had seemed to glow red as he attacked the Psi Cop. 

"I wonder how strong he is? I mean, to block a P12, that takes some major fire power."

"Really," Marcus agreed, and they entered the war room.

Bester was sitting there. It took them a few moments to swallow their repugnance of the man to sit next to him.

They noted that Garibaldi, and Lyta, were sitting or standing as far as they could from Bester. Ivanova wished she could do the same.

Delenn entered, followed by John. They walked closely to each other; you would have to be blind not to see the closeness between them.

"I demand that you hand that man over to the Psi Corp!" Bester roared as soon as they entered the room.

"We will hear your side of things in a moment, Mr. Bester," Sheridan answered, his tone icy.

"He is a Ranger, and as such, is subject to the laws of the Minbari," Delenn said, her tone brooking no argument. "It is not a crime to conceal ones abilities. If anything, he defended himself against your attack today. I would suggest, then, that you get off this station, or we will let him finish what he started!"

Bester sputtered for a moment, not used to being so thwarted.

"We will deal with him ourselves," Sheridan began, when Bester interrupted.

"He is a human telepath! He must be controlled!"

"Actually," said a voice coming from the door," he isn't."

All turned to see Doctor Franklin descend the stairs to the others.

"What?" Bester yelled in annoyance. The day just got worse and worse for him.

"I can't tell what he is yet, but he most definitely isn't all human," Franklin continued, handing a readout to Sheridan. John looked it over, and raised his eyebrows.

Turning to Bester, he handed him the readouts, and gave him a triumphant smile. "It seems that this man is out of your reach, Mr. Bester."

Rage lit the man's dark eyes, and they knew this was another thing he would hold against them.

"I'm leaving now," he told them, and stomped off, trying to maintain the shreds of his dignity.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Susan couldn't restrain her laughter as she watched his back disappear behind the door. 

"Well, that sure took the wind from his sails," Marcus joked, and grinned hugely.

"Yes, but there is still the problem of what to do with Mr. Briefs," Delenn said sternly.

"Come on, Delenn," Susan cajoled, "the guy sensed he was being scanned. I would have reacted even worse. Although, Stephen, I have to admit that 'not human' idea was a stroke of genius."

Stephen said nothing, but cocked his head.

"He wasn't bluffing, Ivanova," said Michael. He handed her the readout.

She choked at what she saw. 

Basically, he was half human. The other half, it wouldn't identified. What was more interesting, this other half was almost completely dominate. There were irregularities in the spine, which was the most notable difference. There were others, but they were not as easily seen.

Wordlessly, she handed it back.

"So, now what?" asked Franklin. "The guy heals extremely fast. He's already awake, and Marcus gave him enough tranquilizers to knock out a rabid elephant. I don't think we could hold him if he wanted to get out."

"I have a solution, captain, and I'm surprised you didn't come up with it yourself," Marcus quipped, turning to John.

"Yes?"

"We could ask him."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks grimaced; looking up from his book-reader as he saw several of his Narn guards open the door. They had put several of them on him in his particular cell in lock up. 

It wouldn't have mattered had he really wanted to get out; he could destroy the entire station with ease. SSJ2s didn't have much that could actually hurt them, although he wasn't in a hurry to chew vacuum.

Entered Marcus, with the Entil'zha.

Trunks rose to his feet, and bowed respectfully. He hadn't met Delenn in person before, but he had known Sinclair. If she was anything like her predecessor, she was trustworthy. 

He hoped.

"We need to ask you some questions, Anla'shok Trunks," she asked solemnly. "Although, we are not going to hold what you did to Bester against you. I am aware that there are several people who would have liked to do the same thing. Although, we will have to ask you about your –"

_Here it comes,_ Trunks thought.

"Telepathic abilities."

"My what?" Trunks asked, dumbfounded.

"You know, your telepathic abilities, the ones you used to fight off Bester."

"Uh, I don't know much about it, truthfully. I felt something in my mind, and I fought it. That's all I know."

"You care to have that verified by our resident telepath?"

Trunks nodded slowly, and Delenn left the room.

"Hey, Trunks," Marcus said, and the hybrid looked at him, and raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

"You mind explaining this to me?" he asked, and put the flight recorder in the viewer of the cell.

"Holy kuso," Trunks whispered, seeing the tape.

To be continued. 


	4. IV

Live For the One, Die for the One IV

Disclaimer: B5 belongs to Warner Bros., and DBZ belongs to Akira Toryama. No money is made.

Trunks cursed loudly as he saw himself go SSJ on the bridge of his White Star during the fight with the Shadows. Marcus sort of laughed at this.

"Well, what are you going to say about that?" he asked, and Trunks thought quickly. Maybe playing dumb would be his best bet…

It was then that Lyta and Delenn entered his cell together, and looked at the still swearing Trunks. He had left English and Japanese, and was using some Minbari, with a lot of Narn thrown in for flavor.

"Is something wrong, Trunks?" Delenn asked, her face red from all the swearing.

Marcus, ever the joker, played the tape again.

"Holy-" said Lyta, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head.

"We still need to ask Trunks some questions," Delenn added when she could shut her mouth. "And this will be one of them."

Nodding, and resigning himself to a quick get away, if he could, Trunks sat down.

"This may feel a little strange, Mr. Briefs," Lyta told him, as they sat at the small table in the cell. "Just relax, and don't try to fight it. I won't hurt you."

"Says you," he mumbled, and took a deep breath, and began a simple mediation exercise.

"So, have you ever used your telepathic abilities before?" she asked, eyes penetrating.

"Not that I know of. In fact, I didn't know I _had_ telepathic abilities. I felt something in my head, and I did like that-" here, he pushed slightly at the probe in his mind. Lyta jolted backwards like she had been hit.

"How did you do that?" she asked, amazed.

"Oh, yes," she added. "He's telling the truth."

"I just- pushed. It was like when I-" he clamped his mouth shut.

"Like when you what."

Trunks refused to say anything.

"All right then, about what we saw on the screen?"

"I don't know anything about it," he answered, and she shook her head.

"He's lying."

"Mr. Briefs, will you please tell us what that was?"

"No."

"Why not?" Delenn asked, her usual serene nature coming to the breaking point. She was not used to being denied.

"Because, it isn't really your business," he said quietly, and Lyta saw images in his mind of- well, it was hell. Images of people dying all around, the feeling of horrific pain, and guilt, awful guilt. Guilt of not being able to stop it.

Lyta felt tears down her face, and pulled away.

"All right, we won't ask about that," she said softly. Delenn looked like she was about to protest, but decided against it.

"You feel any discomfort, and I'll stop the rest of the probe, okay?" she told him, and he nodded. He could feel her inside his mind, like cool fingers brushing against his face. 

"Do you have any training in your telepathic talents?" Delenn asked. Trunks shook his head.

"No," he answered, and Lyta nodded.

"From what I can tell, they were completely latent until you sensed the Shadows, and you freaked, releasing them. You're strong, P12, at least."

Trunks cocked an eyebrow, confused. He still didn't know much about it.

"Although, they seem to have become latent again. Like a sword put back in its sheath."

Delenn looked thoughtful for a moment. "Since are telling the truth about this, Ranger Trunks, we will keep you on your White Star, as least until the end of the war. You have too good a record to move you. But afterwards, you need to have this ability trained. Understood? If you have such a dislike of the human Psi Corps, we can have you trained by the Minbari. Will that do?"

Trunks nodded, and a small smile lit his face. "I know the importance of training, Entil'zha," he told her, bowing. She nodded graciously in return, and gestured for him to follow. 

Only Marcus saw the sigh of relief.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks Briefs was no stranger to battle, or loosing people. As the last days of the War with Earth approached, he reflected on what had happened.

He had done his best as a captain of his White Star, and that was the most that could be expected, without revealing any more about himself.

He shuddered, thinking about what had happened to those telepaths on the ships.

He was grateful it wasn't him. 

He wanted to go back to his world, even with the Androids. At least they couldn't turn your mind inside out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks listened numbly as he heard the report.

"Marcus," he hissed, feeling his inhuman rage grow. The rest of the crew, human and Minbari alike, cheered the rest of the news. The creation of the Inter Stellar Alliance, the defeat of the Earth Alliance, and that Sheridan would be president.

But Marcus, old friend, Trunks wanted to shout, why did you have to do something like that? 

His Exec saw the tears on his face, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Captain, why don't you go rest for a while," she said aloud, and whispered," I know he was your friend. Go mourn in peace."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The trip back to Babylon 5 was painful for Trunks. He had lost so many friends that loosing the annoying Ranger seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

His eyes were lifeless as he entered the station, and went directly to Med Lab.

"Where is he?" Trunks asked, wanting to see his friend.

"Sir, you shouldn't be in here-" said someone, a nurse, he thought. The man grabbed his hand to lead him out, but he casually tossed him away.

"I need to speak to Dr. Franklin," he told them, and rather than make this mad man angry, they ran to get the good doctor.

Dr. Franklin did not look all that happy about being disturbed, but when he saw the expression on Trunks' face, he wanted to cringe.

"May I help you, Ranger Briefs?" 

Trunks grunted. "Where is he?"

Franklin didn't have to ask who 'he' was.

"Back here," he gestured, and Trunks followed. Ivanova was sitting on a stool, next to his bed, and staring at the sheet covered form.

"Ranger Briefs," acknowledged Susan, her voice rasping harshly.

"Commander," he said, and folded down the sheet.

Marcus was there, his face paler than normal, the eyes that had once always held a spark of humor closed, the smirk gone, nothing.

Trunks refused to accept that. Too many friends had left him. Why had this human impacted him so much? Was it his spirit, his will? Was it that blithe assurance that if you really deserved what you got, what kind of person were you?

"Dammit, he didn't deserve this," Trunks whispered, and put his naked hand to that cold face.

Then he pulled back, his face confused.

"He's not gone on," he muttered, and put his hand back.

That sense he had gotten since coming here, telepathy, was telling him that there was something left. His ability to sense ki only affirmed that.

"He's still here!" Trunks shouted.

"What are you talking about? His heart and brainwaves have stopped. There is nothing-" Ivanova sobbed," nothing we can do."

"His ki- his life force isn't completely gone, if only-" then he stopped. There were no Dragon Balls here, no senzu beans. 

Placing his hand on the other Ranger's chest, he forced some of his ki into him. He tried again, and again, almost powering up.

:_Marcus, if you are there, then answer me!:_

Nothing, just the feeling that there was something still there, like an echo.

"We're putting him in cryo. We just wish-"

"Sir, we have a huge energy signature emanating from Med Lab," said a voice over the com. Both Ivanova and Franklin looked over at Trunks, who was still placing his hand on Marcus' chest.

"Come on, come on, Marcus," chanted Trunks, his eyes never leaving his friend's face.

"I know, C&C," Franklin said, looking at Trunks. Then he noticed the cracks starting in the floor beneath him.

"Trunks," he said in a calming voice. "I don't know what you are doing, but it won't bring him back, and you could seriously damage the station. Then a lot of people other than Marcus would be dead. Do you hear me?"

Trunks gasped, and looked at the doctor. Franklin stared into his green eyes, shocked by the anguish that he saw.

"There are so many ghosts, doctor," he muttered, and looked away, and Franklin saw his eyes turn blue again, and regain their pupils.

"Ghosts of what?" asked Susan. She sounded so tired.

"Of those I couldn't help, couldn't save. I don't know why this is getting to me, I have lost so many friends before… How strong will I have to get before I stop loosing friends?"

"I don't think we ever do," she answered him, her own hand trailing down Marcus' face. 

Franklin had been fascinated by the strange transformation that had started, and was trying to use that to overcome his own grief, as the Commander followed Trunks out.

The computer had recorded all of it, and his entry into the Med Lab.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks watched events unfold from the bridge of his White Star. The first year of the Interstellar Alliance had been a tumultuous one. He shivered, wishing that he could finally get his time machine repaired. So far, the one part he had lacked was impossible to find. Maybe the technology didn't exist in this universe.

"I can't give up," he muttered to himself. "Not like that!"

"Captain?"

Looking up, his Exec looked at him expectantly.

"Yes?"

"Message from the Entil'zha," she said, and gestured, and the screen changed to show the familiar face of Delenn.

"Ranger Briefs?" she asked, and he nodded.

"We would order you to Minbar, to ask you about a career change."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Trunks walked into main Ranger complex at Tuzanor, is pace faster than his escorts', as they struggled to keep up.

"You wished to see me, Entil'zha?" he asked, seeing the woman behind the desk.

"Yes. I will not beat around the bush, as humans say. I would like you to become my aide, and the Alliance's attaché to the Rangers."

Trunks stopped cold at that. He had never expected something like that!

"Why?"

"Because, with the Telepath war coming, we need someone who can be trusted, and it telepathic themselves, to safeguard any sensitive information. You should know ahead of time about the situation and what the job entails. Are you willing to take it?"

"I-" he thought hard for a few moments. This might be the only thing worthwhile that he could do, both to remember his friend Marcus, and to get hold of the technology that he needed for his time machine.

"Yes, I'll do it."

To be continued. 


End file.
